Network providers strive to provide highly reliable networks. Signaling messages that flow between network elements must be perfectly timed in order to align with timers active within these elements. The more signaling messages that have to traverse network element boundaries, the more likely timer errors, such as timer expirations, will occur and cause call setup failures. Some implementations require a Call Control Element (CCE) to communicate with an Application Server (AS) whenever an inbound call is directed to a subscriber. Broadly defined, the CCE is the network element that performs call control functions to setup a call, and the AS is a network element that comprises the data as well as applications that the CCE needs in order to setup a call. The Application Server checks to see if the call legs require any special processing as a function of what services the receiver or originator may be subscribed to. Since this interaction between the CCE and AS must occur for every inbound call, timing delays and other signaling complexities can easily happen to cause signaling related timers to expire and cause call setup failures.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for enabling service indicators in Call Control Element in packet-switched networks, e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks.